Colosseum, Coliseum, or Flavian Amphitheatre all point to the same building. Located in Rome, Italy, it is the largest amphitheatre, an open-air place for entertainment and sports by the Roman Empire, and the largest in the world. I have scaled this building countless times (in AC:Brotherhood anyway) and it's super cool.
It was originally named Flavian Amphitheatre. The name Colosseum itself was derived from the colossal statue of Nero (Colossus of Nero) built before it and located nearby. By colossal, it was 3/4 the height of the amphitheatre. The statue did fall to reuse its bronze, though. Now, the name Colossum has been long used to refer to the amphitheatre and the statue got forgotten halfway. Sad indeed.
As per the history, Colosseum was created by emperor Vespasian in 70 AD. Before it was made, the land was emperor Nero's domain. Nero built Domus Aurea, a villa, artificial lake, and the Colossus of Nero nearby. In Vespasian's time, the Domus Aurea was torn down, and the lake was filled in (the statue was still there though). Then, he built the Colosseum there with the spoils he took from the Jewish temple after Siege of Jerusalem. The building was finished in his son, Titus' time and he even remodeled it. The Colosseum has got bad damage after a great fire in 217. In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV declared the site as a sacred site where many Christians has been martyred there even if there is no evidence about it. If you read a Japanese manga series called C.M.B, <SPOILER ALERT> there was some conspiracy theory that the Jewish Temple was buried under the Colosseum and the declaration was to protect the site and the secret underneath it. Weird indeed. <SPOILER ENDS HERE> Today, the site becomes a real popular tourist attraction, with millions of people coming annually.
Actually, the common form of a Roman theatre is half circle. So, the Colosseum design is actually two Roman theatre put side-by-side. It is elliptical with height around 50 meter. The outer wall has been mainly destroyed so the outer wall that you see today is actually the inner wall. The now surviving outer wall is comprised with arcades, row of arches from many ancient architecture orders, like Tuscan and Ionic. The Colosseum had 80 entrances, 1 for the Roman Emperor and his aides, 3 for elites, and 76 for common people. The seating had many sections. The lowest and the best for Emperor, aides, and the senates. Then, above it, maenianum primum is for nobles and knights. After that, maenianum secundum for ordinary citizens and divided for the wealthy and the poor. The arena was a wooden floor covered by sand, which is now almost all gone. The underground structure, hypogeum is still visible though. It comprised of tunnels and cages for gladiators and animals.
The attraction held in Colosseum was gladiatorial shows with other variety. There were hunts, involving animals like rhinoceros, elephants, crocodiles, and many other Asian African animals. There were records of simulated sea battles being performed which becomes a debatable argument between historians today. There were also execution where the hero of the story (the condemned) died in a gruesome but authentic mythological ways.Today, it becomed one of the seven Wonders of the World. Many tourists come and pay to watch the interior, which seems to be really fun.
That's all for today. Thanks for reading until the end. Bye.
From :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum
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